There's a separate grade for behavior. Literally, a behavioral grade, especially in early primary years. What you make on your math test is based on the results of your calculations and whether or not you followed directions (remembered to put your name on your paper, didn't start till tracher said Go, showed your work, etc). Having points being deducted for failure to follow directions is not the same as being punished for being a boy.
Same for all other subjects.
Behavioral grades are based on specific rule breaking and overall dynamics within the class. Do you get along with others or are you always starting fights? Do you help out when the opportunity arrives or so you leave a mess for someone else to clean up? Do you show respect to the teacher and others or are you disrespectful? Do you trase and bully the other kids, or do you foster comraderie amongst your peers?
That kind of thing.
That's the way it's always been done. I've seen my fsther's, my uncle's and my grandfather's report cards from grade school because my grandmothers kept them. All of them had decent marks for behavior.
This idea that teachers are punishing boys for being boys is ludicrous. The fact is, over time geberal civil behavior has declined and a lot of famiies are dysfunctional. A lot of these kids come from homes where drug addiction or deep poverty or instability is in play as the kids are acting out. We can't blame the kids or the teachers solely for this anymote than we can blame parents completely.
When my daughter was in first grade she used to come home with her shoelaces cut a few times a week for a while. One of the kids was ducking under the table every chance they got and cutting shoe strings on the other other kids' shoes. That kid was being neglected at home and been through some trauma and wasn't getting help. That kid failed their behavioral grade. Other than reporting to CPS (which happened), making sure the kid had something to eat (breaking school policy), taking away scissors, keeping an extra watchful eye on that kid, and being upfront with parents like myself to not let their kids wear shoes with laces to school if they couldn't afford to replace laces every day, there wasn't a whole lot more that teacher could do.
That kid was a girl. She got the same failint behavioral grade and top mark art grade as she would have gotten had she been a boy.
Teacher sexism is a cop out to avoid larger problems.
